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From: "Susan Jones" <SUJones@parkland.edu>
To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov>
Subject: [NIFL-LD:4755] RE: Should instruction, and high-stakes assess
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Students with the right documentaiton here can take the college assessment test with accommodations, and (at least hypothetically) get materials read to them, so for these people, reading has been "redefined" as including hearing it. I'm not sure it's really being redefined, since the students are getting meaning from written text.
Unfortunately, articles like this lead many people to the conclusion that, say, if I have TextHelp! in my computer lab here at the college, that a whole lot more students will be a whole lot more successful. Anybody who's been down the road knows otherwise. The infrastructure has to be there to support the software. WHen a whole system has made an investment into the software, they've also made an investment in that infrastructure * or, at least, I pause to consider cynically, enough investment to have somebody for a press release. Could even be that that student brought motivation and language skills to the picture that many students don't have, and that despite the description, many students are laboriously proceeding through a process that has little or no meaning to them (except the part about "you have to do this 'cause it's school, don't expect it to make sense, that's for smart people" * one of my least favorite meanings).
Most of the students who try TextHelp! here are disappointed in the quality of the reading; it's not somebody reading the text aloud. They would have to (as they would with text) interpret the words and if they're strong auditory learners maybe even have to "translate" the words into another more prosodic voice. For the software to help them, they would need to learn to do this.
Then there's that other elusive factor * the perception of the learning as something just a little bit independent of The Assignment... the idea that you learn about something (listen to the book, digest it, think about it) and then use that knowledge to complete the assignment. Most of the folks I see honestly want the most efficient way to Complete The Assignment, and * even if the thing's already scanned in for them, which wouldn't always be possible * hearing the text isn't the most efficient way to do it.
I don't know that the law would require consideration of purchase of any specific product; the laws (as should our thoughts and plans) are geared more towards meeting the student needs with reasonable accommodations. I do know that we've got lots of text-to-speech options... and have for some time, as it's been a need for some time. It's expanding the "need" definition to include those who can see that's the change.
Susan Jones
Academic Development Specialist
Academic Development Center
Parkland College
Champaign, IL 61821
sujones@parkland.edu
Webmastress,
http://www.resourceroom.net
>>> Steve.Noble@ky.gov 5/2/2005 9:33:17 AM >>>
A "bibliography" of sorts is available at the following website:
http://kamc.louisville.edu/kyecontent/Documents.htm
(Scroll down to the list of articles and other studies.)
The state of Kentucky has had a statewide Universal Design for Learning
(UDL) project in place now for a number of years. We now have about 95% of
all K-12 schools in the state using text-to-speech software. The state
negotiated a special agreement with TextHelp to obtain school site license
for TextHelp "Read and Write" software at a much reduced rate. This
software includes not only software for reading, but also writing, web
surfing, etc. It is also used for the state assessment, as long as it is
written into the student's IEP or Section 504 plan for a reading
accommodation.
If you would like more background on the Kentucky UDL project, there is an
article on the NASDSE website detailing the work of Kentucky, New York,
California and Ohio in implementing UDL principles. This article is a bit
dated now, but gives some good background. It is at
http://www.nasdse.org/publications/udl.pdf
Best regards,
Steve Noble
Policy Analyst
Kentucky Assistive Technology Service Network
8412 Westport Road
Louisville, KY 40242
Voice: (502) 429-4484 x268
Toll-Free: (800) 327-5287
Fax: (502) 429-7114
Steve.Noble@ky.gov
Board of Directors, Learning Disabilities Association of America (National
Board)
Board of Directors, Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic (KY Unit)
Vice-President, Learning Disabilities Association of Kentucky
Editor-in-Chief, Information Technology and Disabilities
-----Original Message-----
From: Janice Komisor [mailto:jkomisor@projecteaston.org]
Sent: Monday, May 02, 2005 9:59 AM
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: [NIFL-LD:4747] RE: Should instruction, and high-stakes
assessments offer text to speech software?
The Annals of Dyslexia has published studies on efficacy - some of them
can be found at the Kurzweil link below or through the International
Dyslexia Association. Although there are many text to speech systems I
believe the Kurzweil system is the oldest and best. It goes way beyond
text to speech - providing auditory and visual feedback and a suite of
study skills tools.
http://www.kurzweiledu.com/proof_research.asp
Janice Komisor
Director of Language and Literacy
ProJeCt of Easton, Inc.
Easton, PA 18042
-----Original Message-----
From: nifl-ld@nifl.gov [mailto:nifl-ld@nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David
Rosen
Sent: Sunday, May 01, 2005 1:21 PM
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: [NIFL-LD:4745] Should instruction, and high-stakes assessments
offer text to speech software?
NIFL-LD, NIFL-Technology, NIFL-Assessment and AAACE-NLA Colleagues,
Today's Boston Globe's Education section
http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2005/05/01/
hear_words_see_a_difference/
has an article about how Massachusetts high school students with
reading disabilities use text (or print)-to-speech [
http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Text-to-speech ] software to
help them improve their reading and writing skills, and to take
high-stakes and other standardized tests. Massachusetts is not the
only state that allows this practice.
"Teachers liken the effect to runners who train with faster
athletes
to get used to a quicker pace. Students who used to get bogged down in
chapter one can now read books cover to cover. It's because they can
focus less on what the words are and more on what they mean."
"A growing body of research indicates these reading programs
help
students make significant strides, and under special education law,
schools are required to consider buying reading programs that might
help students with disabilities."
I have several questions for you:
1. What is the "growing body of research" on this? Can anyone give us
citations? (Are any on-line?)
2. Do your students with reading disabilities (or reading difficulties)
use text-to-speech? What do you think of this practice?
3. Are adult education programs in your state required by law to
consider buying reading programs like this for students with reading
disabilities? If not, should they be?
4. Should adult literacy education standardized tests (TABE, CASAS,
BEST, BEST PLUS and others) be required to have this option? Should
states be required to make it available?
5. Should reading be re-defined to include the use of text-to-speech,
just as increasingly mathematics now includes/allows the use of a
pocket calculator? If so, what are the implications for the field of
adult basic literacy?
I expect there will be a lot of response to these questions, especially
the last one. I have posted this on four e-lists because I think it
raises issues of concern to readers on all these e-lists (and maybe
others). To avoid confusion, and to give everyone a chance to see the
entire discussion, I propose that we have this discussion on one list,
NIFL-LD. If you are not subscribed to this e-list, you can easily and
quickly subscribe by going to
http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/discussions/nifl-ld/
learning_disabilities.html
David J. Rosen
djrosen@comcast.net
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